Measuring top



g- 6, 1940- c. R. BENNETT 2,209,954

MEASURING TOP Filed March 16, 1 959 INVENTOR. CHARLES R. BENNETT BY WM. we,

ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 6, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT or ies 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a measuring and dispensing apparatus to be incorporatedas a feature of can tops, jar tops, or in similar situations, and aims to provide apparatus of that character insuring accuracy of measurement and freedom from leakage in any position of the container or "of the apparatus itself. The invention also includes features whereby it may be applied to the container either as a permanent part or as a 10 separable attachment, and if applied as a permanent part will present no protruding portions to interfere with stacking or withhandling the can in storage and trade, but which nevertheless the housewife may quickly and easily shape into a convenient handle without the use of any tools,

keys or special appliances.

In pursuance of the foregoing aims the invention is presented in the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawing and de- .20 scribed hereafter, it being understood that variations of detail may be resorted to without departing from the principle of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top view of my invention with the parts in fully closed position;

Fig. 2 is a top view with the parts in delivery position; v

Fig. '3 is an inverted perspective view showing the-parts in the same position as Fig. 1;

: Fig. 4 is an inverted perspective view'showing the parts in the same position asFig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section indicated by the'line 55, Fig. '1, looking'in the direction of the arrows, showing the parts in closed position;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section indicated 'by the line 66, Fig. 1, developed on a flat surface, looking in the direction of the arrows again showing the parts in closed position;

Fig. 7-is'a vertical section indicated'by the line 1-1, Fig.2, developed on aflatsurface, looking in the direction of the arrows, showing the parts in delivery position; and

Fig. 8 is an inverted perspective of a modified. form in closed position.

: In the drawing the invention is shown as separespect to the middle plate. The outer element 5 is a plate with a handle 8 and an open sector 9 registrable with the open sector 4 when the parts are in proper position. The inner element consists of a scoop 6A and a lip 6B, the first being "5 the measuring utensil proper and the second serving as a steadying device in the rotation of the scoop and lip, giving stability to the scoop and greater rigidity to the structure. The handle 8 may be bent down against the side of the can 0 as shown in dotted lines Fig. 5 when the container is not in use, as for example when it is on the grocers shelf, and bent up by the user to a convenient operating position, as shown in solid lines.

The hood 3A is of the same general shape as the aperture, and open'along one edge, the open edge being substantially radially disposed with respect to "the lid as a whole, although slightly offset. The other side of the housing, and.- thearcuateigo outer edge areiboth closed. The inner .or under movable part is a unit comprising a scoop 6A and'lipBB. The scoop open at its forward end, is of complementary shape to the hood and adapted to slide into the hood. The lip 6B is to giveii'25 additional stability to the movement of the scoop, and may also serve to limit its rearward travel. For example, in the present embodiment the lip occupies about of the arc, thus preventing opening movement of the scoopbeyond what'isasgo necessary to get far enough back to pick up a full load on closing from the position of Fig. 3 to that of Fig. .4. If the user turns the handle 8 back until the lip. 63 stops against the closed edge of the hoodl3A, movement of the handle to theic3 discharge position will sweep the scoop through its own arcuate amplitude, with the result that the scoop fills itself and carries its load into the 'ured. 'On the other hand, as seen in Figs. 3 and 6, when the scoop is out ofthe housing, the'top plate 5 completely closes the opening 4 in thec stationary central plate 3 so that again no leakage can occur. At intermediate positions no passage of material is possible between scoop and hood so long as any part of the opening 4 is uncovered.

In the sectional drawing the parts are shown in upright position but it will be obvious that for actual operation the can will have to be inverted, so that Figs. 3, 4 and 8 show actual operative positions.

In Fig. 5 the parts are shown in the fully closed or non-discharging position, with the scoop 6B on the right side of the figure and the hood 3A on the left. The same position is shown in Fig. 6, but on a larger scale and taken from a different point of view so as to show that the open side of the scoop faces the open side of the hood. In this figure the parts are broken away in the middle to save showing a considerable amount of metal which in fiat development would make the figure unnecessarily large. In Fig. 7 the same scale is used as in Fig. 6, but the parts are here in the discharge position.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 8, the same reference characters are used as in the other figures. The hood over the discharge opening in the central stationary plate 3 is omitted, otherwise the construction is the same.

In this form there is also no possibility of leakage because the outer and central plate openings 4 and 9 can register only when the scoop 6A is over the opening 4, but the accuracy of measurement is not so close, because the open forward edge of the scoop is not protected by any housing when in discharge position, and consequently some material may spill after the scoop is emptied.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have invented a measuring top which gives complete sealing, accuracy of measurement, simplicity of construction, does not interfere with piling of the cans or handling them in trade or on the store shelf, which can be put into operative condition without the use of any tools or additional parts, and which, if made with suitable attaching means, can be transferred from one can or jar to another.

It will be understood that modifications in forms of the parts may be used, that the proportions shown are merely illustrative and might be larger or smaller according to the amount to be discharged, that modifications of the handle arrangement are possible, and so forth.

Among the possibilities of my invention are that a housewife may own a number of these tops, each one having a scoop of different size, as for example a teaspoonful, a tablespoonful, and so on, and might put one top or another on a can or jar according to needs. Thus, if the requirement for several days is a tablespoonful of coffee at each meal, she will apply and use the top having the tablespoonful size scoop. If some of the family go away for several days and a teaspoonful is sufiicient, she will put on the top which measures out a teaspoonful. Other possibilities and uses will naturally occur, all falling within the range of my invention, the scope of which is set out in; the following claims.

I claim:

1. A measuring top comprising in combination a stationary plate having interior edges defining a discharge opening therein, a movable plate face to face with said stationary plate and having interior edges defining a discharge opening therein adapted to register with the first-named discharge opening, a hood on one face of said stationary plate and over said first-named opening, and a. scoop movable with said movable plate but against the opposite face of said stationary plate and in register with the opening therein, said scoop being of corresponding size and shape with said hood, but sufficiently smaller to telescope therein, said hood and said scoop each being open along edges which mutually approach in moving toward discharge position and closed along other edges.

2. In a device of the class described, a stationary plate, edges defining an opening therein, movable covering elements above and below said plate, each of said movable elements including an opening movable into registry with the opening in said stationary plate, and offset portions in one of said covering elements and in said stationary plate respectively registrable with said openings, one of said offset portions being adapted to telescope into the other when said openings are in registry.

3. In combination in a measuring device a plate with edges defining discharge means therein, a set of elements against each face of said plate, means connecting said elements against mutual relative movement but permitting relative movement between said set and said plate, the inner of said elements comprising a flat portion wiping upon one of said plates and a fioor ofiset therefrom and having walls extending substantially from said plate to said floor, but open at one end.

4. In combination in a measuring closure, a

pair of housings offset from said plate and mutuallyrotatable, each of said housings having that edge which leads in the direction of mutual approach open, registrable apertures under said housings, and each of said housings closing the open; edge of the other when said apertures are in registry.

' 5. In a measuring closure, in combination, a pair of mutually movable plates in face-to-face engagement and mutually registrable openings in each, a measuring vessel over said opening in one plate and a measuring vessel opposite said open-. ing in the other plate and movable with said other plate, said vessels each having an open edge, said vessels being adapted 'to interfit when said openings are in registry and thereby cover said openings and at the same time present the vessel contents at said openings.

6. In a measuring closure, a stationary plate with edges therein forming a discharge aperture, and an open-ended sector-shaped hood over said aperture, a plate rotatively slidable upon one face of said stationary plate and having edges therein defining an opening registrable with said aperture, a sector-shaped scoop rotatively slidable as a'unit with said second-named plate upon the opposite face of said stationary plate and having. an open end toward the open end of said hood, and a lip carried by said scoop in its movement upon said stationary plate and in a plane intersected by said hood, the circumferential extent of said lip being such that when the edge of said.

- lip is against said hood the open end of said scoop" is circumferentially spaced from the open end of said hood a distance not less than the circumferential length of said scoop.

' CHARLES R. BENNETT. 

